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The best restaurant burgers in Toronto taste as good as they look. A world apart from their fast-food counterparts, these elevated, often decadent offerings are meant for more leisurely dining to maximize enjoyment.

Here are the best restaurant burgers in Toronto.

1

Richmond Station

Top Chef Canada winner Carl Heinrich's Financial District restaurant makes one of the most well-known burgers in the city. The Station Burger is made with a mix of freshly ground chuck, brisket, sirloin and round that's stuffed with braised neck and short rib, and the patty comes with lettuce, beet chutney and aged cheddar between a milk bun. It’s served with rosemary fries, a dill pickle and garlic aioli.

2

Drake Hotel

This West Queen West hotel with two other restaurants in the city makes a mean burger that features a 6oz dry-aged beef patty from Cumbrae’s accompanied by bacon, cheddar, Russian dressing and a pickle, all on a house-made milk bun and served with a side of fries.

3

The Comrade

Riverside’s longstanding hangout and watering hole has a standout burger with a juicy, flavourful patty made with a Blue Ribbon prime rib brisket mixture and topped with cheddar, “special sauce,” caramelized onions and pickles. It’s truly a beauty to behold.

4

Museum Tavern

Opposite the ROM (hence its name), this spot offers up a towering double cheeseburger with two prime beef patties stacked with American cheese, lettuce, onion, pickles and its own take on Big Mac sauce. Vegetarians can opt for the tofu version, where the patty is made of quinoa-crusted tofu. Either kind comes with a side of fries.

5

Home of the Brave

The namesake HotB Burger at this Americana-themed restaurant on King West includes a house-ground chuck patty, American cheese (of course), mayo, pickles, tomato and shredded iceberg lettuce, all on a brioche bun.

6

Rasa

At this subterranean Food Dudes joint in Harbord Village, the burger is made with braised beef cheek and ground steak, then topped with provolone, pickles, gochujang mayo and “scrapchi” – Rasa’s house version of kimchi pickled from left-over vegetables to reduce kitchen waste. Nestled inside a black sesame seed brioche bun, it’s served with taro root chips.

7

Harry's

Chef Grant van Gameren (Bar Isabel, Bar Raval, El Rey, Tennessee Tavern, etc.) took over this greasy spoon in Parkdale and its menu now offers a few low-key but satisfying burgers, from the super simple Plain-Jane Burger with beef patty, American cheese, pickles, onion and ketchup to the Red Burger, which contains a red chorizo patty, cheese, pineapple and mayo. All come with fries.

8

The Wren

Two kinds of burgers are available at this popular saloon-style pub on the Danforth; the more classic Smash Burger, with double flat-top smashed patties, American cheese, shaved white onion, pickle, bibb lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard, and the fittingly more unconventional Uncle Buck Burger, which consists of a flat-topped patty, beer-battered onion rings, bacon, white cheddar, Thousand Island dressing, chipotle BBQ sauce, lettuce and pickle.

9

The Wickson Social

This sophisticated local bar by Yonge & Wellesley serves up an amazing hand-chopped burger – essentially, a chopped steak that can be cooked to any temperature. Dressed with house-cured bacon and aged cheddar on a puffy sesame seed bun, it’s accompanied by fries and house-made ketchup.